Hamilton and Vettel looked equal throughout the weekend and although they would have had Webber between them it looked as though race day would see them closely duel. However, Vettel has been demoted to the back of grid for being unable to provide a one litre fuel sample. This shakes up both the race and the championship.

Hamilton is the clear favourite to win with odds of 14/25 (1.57) from Blue Square. Certainly Hamilton looks very strong but far from invincible. During free practise two Vettel was quicker and crucially free practice occurs in the same conditions as the race, unlike the other free practice sessions. Webber came 4th in FP2 but appeared to have a cooling issue so should be quicker during the race. With odds of 22/5 (5.40) from Betfair Webber is reasonable odds, having a very competitive car and with the McLaren being quite prone to mechanical failure. For an outside bet, Raikkonen has odds of 31/1 (32.00) from Betfair. 4th is the joint highest he has qualified this year and generally the Lotus is faster during the race than in qualifying. Also, the Lotus usually performs well in warm weather. A comparison could be made with Hungary, also a very warm track that is also resembles a street circuit; Hamilton looked dominant the entire weekend yet both Lotus drivers came very close to winning. A small bet on Raikkonen for victory is unlikely to pay out but would yield a nice profit if it did.

Raikkonen also looks good for a podium with odds of 2/1 (3.00) from Blue Square. Alonso has odds of 1/1 for a podium from Paddy Power
but with Yas Marina being such a difficult course to pass on this is only likely if he gets a good start so probably best watch him for live betting.

Finally, after this race Alonso and Vettel will probably be on about the same number of points. Although Vettel is probably more likely to score higher in the final two races, Alonso’s odds of 9/4 (3.25) from Paddy Power are good value for money given Alonso’s near perfect reliability and ability to score well every race.